Press Releases & Updates 2002

Janet told Justice of the Peace Duncan that there had to be a better definition of peace than "just doing what the police happen to tell you." It had so far proved impossible to get the illegality of Trident raised in either Westminster or Holyrood so ordinary people had to take action. The JP did Janet the courtesy of explaining his verdict. He had found her behaviour "flagrant"*. Later Janet said: "Why are the back roads to Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond polluted by these weapons of mass destruction when we condemn Saddam Hussein for what we have been doing for years.?"

Earlier the Peace and Disarmament spokesman of the Scottish Socialist Party, Les Robertson (54), from Renton, was given a fine of £150 after being found guilty of a breach of the peace at the blockade of Faslane last October. He told the court that Trident was an obscenity; the only recourse people have is to put their bodies in front of that gate. The claim was made that our nuclear weapons were there to defend our freedom but it was a strange freedom that meant you were taken to court for a peaceful protest. Again, JP Duncan found Les guilty on the basis that his behaviour had been "flagrant". Les said he would not pay the fine and would be at every blockade of the base until Trident was got rid of.

After the trial Les said: "Tony Blair’s eagerness to join the US in illegal aggression against Iraq only demonstrates more clearly what our armed forces are for, with the terror of Trident at their back. This is not about fighting for freedom, this is about getting your way by blatant and murderous force. I hope everyone who possibly can will get to the demo in Glasgow on the 19th and show their utter intolerance of what Blair and Bush are up to."

*Note: "Flagrant", classically defined as "scandalous or outrageous", is used as one of the tests of a breach of the peace in the clarification of the offence in the High Court Opinion in the Smith v Donnelly appeal. Judging by its use in Helensburgh and Dumbarton courts it now refers to the determination of peace protesters to take an action they have decided upon and their refusal to stop when told to by a police officer.

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